Slow-Motion
by raynoremmas
Summary: Ray makes preparations to leave Gracefield with Emma and Norman, but is caught off-guard when his friends want to help him. One-shot. Hurt/comfort. A bit angsty. raynoremma otp. nothing explicit, just rating it T because of the rating of the show. Someone please save these kids lol


Inside the boys' bedroom, the only thing that Ray could hear was soft snoring and the clock on the wall ticking. Everyone had finally fallen asleep. He let out an inaudible sigh and slowly began to get out of bed, careful not to make any noise. He crept over to the bedroom door, slipping through the crack they always left open for the younger kids who were scared of the dark. He trailed over to the library while biting back a yawn. He knew Mom was probably asleep by now and even if she woke up, she wouldn't question why her son was still awake.

Pulling out a chair, he plopped down and got comfortable. He opened up one of Minerva's novels and began to get submerged into it, but it wasn't long until he heard the slight creak of the study door. He turned around to see Norman blinking at him. Ray's heartbeat began to pick up, but he remained as calm as possible, waiting for Norman to question him.  
"What are you doing up?" he asked casually, walking over to the table towards Ray.

"Couldn't sleep," it wasn't a total lie. He looked back toward his book, wishing that he could tell Norman what he was actually doing there. He knew that he wasn't ready to tell him yet, though.

"Oh?" Norman waited for a response.

When Norman didn't say anything else, Ray asked, "What?"

"Why can't you sleep?" He looked confused.

Ray blinked, "Just can't. Happens sometimes," he tried to brush it off. "Why are you awake?" he looked at Norman.

"I heard you get up, and was worried you might be sick or something."

"I'm fine," Ray blushed slightly, trying not to let himself be satisfied with his response. Even though life had been hell for him from birth, being with Norman and Emma made him feel at ease.

"Are you sure? You've been not able to sleep a lot lately," Norman frowned, confused.

Ray brushed his hair out of his eyes, "Have you been watching me, you weirdo?"  
"Not in a weird way! I was just worried, geez," he giggled, smiling at him with soft eyes.

Ray flinched, stomach in knots due to a combination of guilt for lying and nervousness from how cute the other boy was.

"I just…" he trailed off, looking around the room, "Really care about you, Ray."

Ray swallowed nervously, "I mean yeah, we're basically like a big family here."  
"No, that's not what I meant," Norman shook his head. "I meant to say that I love you, Ray. You and Emma are very important to me… I don't know what I'd do without you. You're always there for me when I'm sick and I want to do the same for you." he smiled softly, thinking of the lengths Ray and Emma would go through to cheer him up.

Ray sighed, pushing his hair into his face nonchalantly to hide his blush. "You don't have to. I'm fine."  
"You can say that all you want, but I can tell you're not," he laughed softly, "You can tell me anything."

He held back a scoff, knowing very well he couldn't tell his friend about the Demons beyond the house gate or how Mom was giving the other kids away to be eaten by them.

"Hey, Ray?" Norman asked tentatively, "Something's been bothering me lately too."

Ray looked up at him, silently asking him to keep talking.

"Well," he looked away from him, "I guess this is a little selfish… But I've been thinking lately. Whenever someone gets to leave the house, they never write letters to us about how they're doing." Ray's stomach tensed. Did Norman catch on? "And, while I don't mind, normally, I started to think about how I would feel if you or Emma got adopted and didn't write back to me. I would be really sad, you know? I don't think I could bear it," Norman laughed softly, but his eyes were sad.

Ray felt his chest tighten, as if he couldn't breathe. He got up from his chair, walking over to the shorter boy. He gently put his hand on his head. "You're an idiot if you think I wouldn't write you letters if I got adopted. You're my best friend; you and Emma." he sighed, fighting off the majority of his overwhelming emotions. Things could still go according to plan as long as Norman didn't dig much deeper.

Norman smiled, looking up at the raven-haired boy. "I'm really grateful," he said. He got up and pushed Ray toward the chair he was sitting in. Norman sat next to him in an adjacent chair, sliding his book back to him. "I love you, Ray." he said, smiling gently.

He sighed, "You've been hanging around Emma too much, huh?" he snorted.

"Fair point, but it's how I really feel. I really do love you," he leaned towards the slightly taller boy. "How do you feel about me?" he asked softly.

Ray, now a few inches from him, averted his eyes, "I mean, I love you too, obviously," he said, unable to control his pale face from blushing.

Norman chuckled, brushing Ray's hair out of his face with graceful fingers. "You really are handsome, you know?" he leaned closer to him, "May I kiss you?"  
Ray blushed furiously, grumbling, "Fine, but only because no one else is around."

Norman smiled and pressed his lips gently against Ray's cheek, enjoying the warmth of his cheek in the winter air.

Before Norman could finish soaking in the happiness, there was another small creak from the door. Ray immediately pulled away, seeing Emma's messy orange hair from the open door. Without thinking, he pushed Norman's chest too hard, making himself fall backwards out of his chair and land on the ground with a thud. "Ugh…" he groaned.  
Emma ran over to him, shouting softly, "Ray, are you okay?!" She bent down over him, a worried expression on her face.

He shook off the pain, "What are you doing in here, idiot?!"

Emma blinked as if she forgot for a moment before replying. "Well I went to go see if Norman was awake because I had to use the bathroom and then I noticed both of you were gone, so I came to look for you!" She pulled him up from the ground, "What are you guys doing in here anyways?"

Ray rubbed his head, "I was just re-"  
"It's a secret," Norman smiled, teasing Emma.  
"Normaann, you can't keep secrets from me! We tell each other everything, right Ray?" she pouted.  
"Hey, don't drag me into that," Ray retorted.

"But we're best friends!" she exclaimed as Norman reminded her to be quiet or else Mom would wake up.

Ray knew that he would have to tell them the truth, and he was scared. He tried to distance himself from his friends before the time came, but they practically made it impossible. Emma and Norman stuck to him like glue. He never understood why they liked him so much, but he was grateful. This was one of the last nights he would be able to go over his plan before Conny was shipped out. Emma and Norman would soon come to realize the awful truth about the reality they lived in. He briefly wondered if their bond would crumble under the stress of escaping from the human farm disguised as an orphanage. He shook the thought off and decided to enjoy the last moments of happiness they had together and pray to whatever god there was that they would all make it out of the house alive.


End file.
